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Executive Insight Tip of the Week, December 3, 2009
Sent Thursday, December 3, 2009
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Executive Insight
Tip of the Week
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Hi !
Welcome to this week's issue of Executive Insight.
Don't Put Your Client into a Box
I was inspired with the topic for today's column while at my Thanksgiving dinner table with friends. One of my guests, Donna, brought a lovely gift of chocolates from Godiva. And that's where our story begins.
Donna had wandered into Godiva to make the purchase and asked to create her own assortment of candy instead of buying a prepackaged box. The salesperson asked if she wanted 8 or 16 pieces, and Donna asked if she could just purchase by the pound. Yes, she could.
When she picked the 9th piece of candy, however, the salesperson said, "Oh, I guess you want 16 pieces." No, she wanted to select her own assortment by the pound. This conversation went back and forth for awhile. Donna ended up buying something between 8 and 16 pieces that were put into an 8-piece box, much to the dismay of the salesperson.
The story is comical and pathetic at the same time. To give the salesperson the benefit of the doubt, it seems that Donna was the object of some mysterious and important corporate policy that states that a customer can only buy in multiples of 8.
It was especially interesting to me since Godiva, after all, is considered a luxury retailer, yet the "rules" involved with this purchase seemed more like buying something at McDonald's.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines customize as "to make to order or to measure; to model or alter according to individual requirements." If you claim that you customize, don't do what Godiva did to Donna, which was put her into a box.
When you do customize, do so with a passion for understanding the wants and needs of your clients and being super-responsive to their requests. If you don't customize, it's OK. But we should know that when we walk in.
Have a great week!
 Copyright 2009 Lisa M. Aldisert
Lisa Aldisert is the president of Pharos Alliance, Inc., a management consulting firm that works with organizations in the areas of strategy, business development, and organizational/leadership development. Give us a call at 212-332-3241 to see how we can help you create strategies that make sense for your organization, and result in increased revenue and profitability. |
 Issue #36, December 3, 2009
ISSN 1947-2889
Our goal is to provide you with timely tips so that you can more effectively run your business. We know you have a ton of mail in your inbox, so we're committed to brevity and practicality.
Leadership and the
Bottom Line
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Personal Power
Pace yourself in the weeks ahead. Decide what you want to do and what you want to avoid. The message? You take control of the holidays rather than the holidays running your life.
Trend Watch
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Editor
Julia E. Rosenbaum
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